Lost In You
by xQuiddity
Summary: Haruno Yuri is a prodigious kunoichi of Konoha who wants more than anything else to be a normal person. When her simple dream is barred by former teammate Uchiha Itachi, Yuri goes through nostalgic and painful memories to earn her rightful future. OCxIta
1. Chapter One: Of Nightmares

Hiya, this is Quiddity! :D

This is a OC x Itachi story!

So, this story has been in my mind for a while and I wrote the first version of it some years ago. I decided, after seeing the numerously horrid mistakes and cheesiness, to rewrite it, but then I had no idea what to do with it. I later had an epiphany! To post it up somewhere, yay!

Since I'm still a newbie writer and I have yet to learn much more about writing, please do review this story or PM me or whatever you feel like. Thanks :)

**DISCLAIMER: All Naruto characters do not belong to me. Only my OC, Haruno Yuri, is of my creation.**

* * *

**Chapter One: Of Nightmares**

Can I be dreaming once again?

I'm reaching helpless, I descend...

You lead me through this maze yet I'm not afraid.

_lyrics by Red._

* * *

Pink stargazer lilies grace the emerald field, gently rocking in the wind. Their vibrant colors both blind and entrance me, beckoning me closer. As soon as I made a step towards them, a scream erupted from somewhere. The blue sky, green grass, and the pink petals all turned to a crimson red. I turn towards the scream but all I see is a dead woman on the ground with her eyes opened to the sky in shock as her dark blood drowns the lilies in a sea of crimson.

Falling to my knees, I fail to catch my breath. My phantom fingers touch the woman – a touch _me –_ only to feel the flesh disintegrating: first into rotting, ancient flesh, and then into dust. The dust flies away from me and guides my eyes to the man with red eyes.

* * *

I scream, tears making streaks across my pale cheeks. I grab the sides of my head with my fingers, feeling the warm flesh to make sure I was alive. Strong arms embraced my sobbing self, warmth seeping into my cold skin.

My sobs quickly turn into silent tears through many years of practice of self-control. I closed my eyes, allowing him to pull me into his lap as he stroked my unusually pigmented long hair. Brushing his lips against my forehead, he waited until I was breathing evenly.

"Yuri, Yuri, Yuri..." he murmured softly, "The same dream again?"

Wordlessly, I nodded, burying my face into his chest as tears forced their way through my tear ducts. Pathetic sobs escaped my lips as I placed my fingers on my lips, willing them to stop quivering.

"It's only a dream," he said, pulling me away from him. He crouched down a bit, kissing my tears away. He moved my hand away, kissing me lightly on the lips.

"It felt so real," I allowed myself to whisper. I pulled him closer to me, my arms wrapped around his muscular chest.

"But it wasn't," he replied, cutting off anymore of my words. He pulled me back to the bed, one arm under my head and the other around my waist.

I played with a strand of his silver hair as I reached up to kiss his lips through his mask.

"Mmm... Kakashi?" I murmured. I woke alone, as usual. My alarm clock read 6:21 AM. I turned my gaze from the clock to the empty side of the bed. I touched the covers with my fingers. Still warm...

A piece of paper was placed neatly by my head. Getting up and out of bed, I grabbed the note, reading it as I made my way to my closet.

_Yuri,_

_ You were sleeping so soundly after such a bad nightmare I couldn't bear to wake you. Sleep well, if you're still asleep. If you're not, a bath is ready for you and there's breakfast at your table._

_ - Hatake Kakashi_

Infuriatingly unemotional, as usual. I crumpled and tossed the paper into the trash basket as I opened my closet.

I picked out my usual kunoichi attire: a cherry red sleeveless shirt and short black ninja tights until a white skirt. Grabbing my kunai pouch, bandages, black gloves, and of course, my undergarments, I strolled into my bathroom and soaked in a hot steamy bath.

I hissed as fresh wounds met piping hot water. I bore with it, allowing the pain to consume for an instant before I closed my eyes and bit down on my lip, fighting against the pain as a thought crossed my mind.

Pain. That was all there was to a ninja's life.

My reverie was interrupted by my acute senses. I sensed someone hiding behind the window of my bathroom.

"Kakashi, what are you doing?"

"Sharp as ever," he said with some amusement, pushing open the door. He was twirling a porcelain cat mask on his left index finger, sitting on the ledge of the window with his back to the side, a foot dangling on the inside of my bathroom. "I was actually trying to be stealthy that time."

I stepped out of my bath nonchalantly, pulling on a bathrobe as I let the water drain my sweat, blood, and dirt.

"I didn't become an ANBU captain at 13 for no reason, you know," I replied simply, stepping into my room again, noting that the bed sheets had been folded. I sat on the stool of my white vanity, brushing a boar's hair brush through my pink hair. Kakashi followed me, standing behind me and watching every one of my movements intently.

I sighed, placing my brush down. I swiveled around in my stool, facing the silver-haired jonin. He leaned down towards me, his breath brushing against my lips. Pulling his mask down, I pressed my lips against his, my arms around his neck. He placed one hand on my cheek tenderly before I pulled away abruptly.

"What are you going to say that's going to piss me off?" I asked innocently. "It better not have to do with my ANBU mask you've been holding."

He sighed, plopping on the bed and trying to pull me onto his lap.

I rose my brow, my arms crossed against my bosom.

"Alright, alright!" Kakashi surrendered, his hands up in the air. "The Hokage-sama has an S-classed mission for you. Even I'm not supposed to know what it is. That's why I retrieved your mask from the trash dump behind your apartment building, Yuri."

I threw my hands up in the air. "I _knew_ it! Kakashi, why couldn't you have just said no? I want a normal life. I gave up being an ANBU captain when I was fourteen years old. I want to be a normal jonin or even better, a normal girl. For the past four years, I have been running across this continent, on crazily suicidal missions or _killing people_. Kakashi, I don't want to be a murderer anymore. I want to be a good older sister to Sakura for once. For the first time in ages, we're finally going out shopping and... I don't know, Kakashi! Why do I have to fight for the most natural things in the world to work out for me?"

Frustrated beyond belief, I sucked in a deep breath of air before I was interrupted. Both of our heads swiveled to my door. A scuffle of shoes and the front door slamming shut brought us to our senses.

"Nee-chan? Are you home?"

I muttered a curse. Fast as lightning, I kissed Kakashi's forehead before he disappeared into thin air.

"Sakura, I'm in here."

In seconds, I had dressed in my normal kunoichi clothes, about to pull on my gloves when Haruno Sakura, my insufferable little sister, peeked in. She grinned at me before bounding into my room, hugging me hello.

"Hey, little girl, what have you been up to?" I smiled, ruffling her hair with a bare hand.

"Nothing really. I sneaked out of the house before Mom and Dad would start the whole Sunday breakfast ritual began," she rolled her eyes. A habit she inherited from me.

Sakura and I were basically identically alike. She had the same soft pink hair I had, obviously growing it out to imitate my long, waist-length hair. Her pale porcelain skin was akin to mine. The only thing slightly different between us was the more narrow jaw line I had and our eyes. Hers was a soft jade color while mine was a brighter, clear emerald pigment. Neighbors and villagers often commented on the unnerving resemblance between us whenever we shopped together.

"Good job, kiddo."

As I pulled on my shoes, she tried on my gloves which I had neglected to put on. They were obviously too long for her fingers. When she raised her palm to me, the tips of the gloves sagged like an empty sack of potatoes.

"Potato bag fingers," I snorted.

"Hey!" she retorted. Sakura's eyes fell to the ANBU mask that was lying on my bed. "Oh."

Sakura turned to me, her face turning a disappointed pink.

"I'm so sorry, kiddo," I apologized, crouching down to her size. "I thought I was free but Kakashi told me that I had a mission assigned today."

"It's okay," she struggled, adjusting her headband protector. Sakura forced a smile. "I know you're busy."

"Oh, Sakura..." I murmured as her eyes pricked with tears. She hugged my waist tightly as small tears leaked out of her eyes. "I'm so sorry, baby. I wish I could be a better old sister. Tell you what, first thing when I get back, we're eating out and shopping. It doesn't matter what Mom or Dad says, we're going shopping and you're sleeping over, okay? First thing, I promise!"

"Really?" she said, sniffling.

I laughed, wiping her tears away with a finger. "Of course. I love you, even though I can't show it most of the time, Sakura!"

She lifted up a pinkie promise. "Promise to keep your promise and to never tell anyone that I cried over something like this?"

I sensed her newly founded teenage rebelliousness kicking in. Smiling, I hooked her pinkie with mine and knocked her head with mine gently.

"Promise."

* * *

Clad in my ANBU outfit of a black turtleneck sleeveless shirt, black ninja pants, gray torso armor, metal arm-guards, and my porcelain mask hiding my face, I waited for the Hokage to finish with his last contract. His secretary scurried away quickly when he saw how deadly my narrowed emerald eyes looked.

He gestured to come closer and I strode over, my long ponytail swishing behind me.

Swiftly, I knelt on one knee.

"Haruno Yuri, ready to take orders."

The old man breathed in his pipe before saying slowly, "No need for formalities. Since you hate these missions, I'll tell you what I want you to do, Yuri-chan."

The old Hokage acted as my grandfather in the past years of my life and as such he knew everything about me. After my parents and I had argued when I was a child about my future, the Hokage was the one who had stuck up for my convictions. He dictated that if I wished to graduate early, live away from such overbearing parents, take the chunin exams, etc., then so be it. Because of the Hokage, I lived a freer, albeit unusual, life growing up.

I got off the ground, dusting my pants off. I jumped onto his desk, my legs swinging off the edges as he drilled me on what was happening.

"I know you have no wish to do anymore of these tedious tasks, but I'm asking you to do one more mission as a personal favor. I firmly believe that despite the numerous shinobi there are in Konohagakure, you are the only one who has a chance of succeeding in this mission." The old man took a moment to puff away at his pipe. "In reward, you will both be paid properly for a successful job and relieved of any shinobi duties that you do not want to engage in."

My head turned, my eyes wide as I tore off my mask. "Seriously? You really mean, that, Jii-san?"

He nodded slowly, turning his gaze away from mine.

"What's the catch?"

"Your mission is to capture the S-classed missing-nin Uchiha Itachi."

* * *

**Author's Note:**

**Okay, I know what you're thinking: _what the hell is Kakashi doing in this story_? Just trust the author and read along. (:**


	2. Chapter Two: Recollections

Hi, Quiddity here again.

So here's chapter two of Lost in You. Hope you enjoy it. (:

**DISCLAIMER: All Naruto characters do not belong to me. Only my OC, Haruno Yuri, is of my creation.**

* * *

**Chapter Two: Recollections**

I miss the part when we were moving forward now  
on our way down.  
But maybe someday, I'll be something more than love.  
Just know I'll never tell...

_lyrics by Saosin._

* * *

"You're joking."

"I sincerely wish I was."

"Jii-san, you _know_ why I can't do this mission. You _know_ why I can't!" I whispered, my hands pale and shaking in my lap.

He removed the pipe from his mouth. "Are you implying that you can't attempt to retry one mission you failed five years ago?"

I clamped my mouth shut. I turned my gaze to the floor, angry at myself for no reason.

"Yuri, this is your solo mission. Take it or leave it. Attempt this mission and earn your freedom or listen to mission debriefings for the rest of your life."

"But why! Why _Uchiha Itachi_?!" I demanded.

He sighed. "I knew perfectly well that you despised missions to the point where you are depressed and sick of living, Yuri. As a result, I specifically asked officials to let you off from being a kunoichi of Konohagakure.

"Of course, I was denied. You are invaluable to our nation ever since Uchiha Itachi left. As a result, people began debating about whether or not to let you off. My words could not be ignored, however, Danzo also made a point of your abilities being invaluable to the survival of Konoha."

Despite my dry mouth, I managed to mutter, "What a fib..."

The Hokage chuckled at my dry humor. "In all honesty, people were considering you to be a potential Hokage candidate, with intensive training from myself, of course. People including me."

"Hokage?" I rose a brow. "That's never going to happen. Ever."

"Danzo reached a conclusion," he continued, ignoring me, "either you retrieve a willing Itachi or you stay a kunoichi of Konoha. Most concluded that you would not attempt the same mission again and remain a shinobi but there were a few such as myself that considered the possibility of you going on this mission. We objected to this, but alas, majority rules in all democracies."

"... I'll go."

"Pardon?"

"I said," I growled through gritted teeth, "I'll _go_. I need to prove those old fat geezers wrong. And I want my life back... If I have to drag Uchiha Itachi here by my teeth, I'll do it. Anything to fix my mistake of ever becoming a shinobi."

_xxx_

Time to head out, again...

I hummed a tuneless song as I paced back and forth. My eyes kept turning to the face-down stack of papers on my vanity... The ones about _him_.

How am I supposed to do this? How was I supposed to kill the one boy who was superior to me in everything? He was the one who had killed his entire clan, including all outstanding ninjas, without even batting an eye. He was the one who left me on the ground, bleeding to death –

"Boo."

A pair of lips stifled my shriek of surprise. Kakashi, cheeky, stepped back in triumph of catching me off guard. I merely sighed in relief. He narrowed an eye at my unusual behavior.

"What happened?"

"Nothing," I answered calmly, walking towards my closet to get a change of clothes. "I have a final mission to complete. After that, I am completely free of shinobi duties."

He wrapped an arm around my thin waist, stopping me in my tracks. "Yuri, you're my girlfriend and I'm your boyfriend. Does being together for two years mean nothing? Tell me what happened."

I turned slowly, looking up into his face. I lifted up his headband, revealing two intense onyx eyes staring down into emerald. I didn't realize until then how painful it was to lie to the man I loved.

Touching his face with my fingertips, I whispered again, "It's just a mission. Don't worry."

As soon as I turned around, he wrapped both arms around my waist, nuzzling his face into my neck. His breath warmed my neck sensuously, stopping me dead in my tracks.

"If you're going to lie to me, fine, but listen to me: Yuri, I love you. Come back home safely. I'll be waiting for you."

After a second of hesitation, a gust of cold air brushed my skin. He was gone.

Packing into my knapsack several practical necessities, I scanned my room. Anything I was missing...?

Beside my bed, I spotted a picture frame laying face down. With hesitation, I lifted it up and for the first time in ages, I was staring into the past. A younger version of me with a huge smile plastered on my face had its arm around Itachi's neck. A young boy older than us by several years smiled shyly at the camera with a grown man behind us, two hands on my shoulders.

How long has it been?

_xxx_

**11 Years Ago...**

"Congratulations, all Academy graduates."

I tapped my emerald green fingernail against the wood of the table impatiently. Although I was one of the best students the Academy had ever seen, I hated it. All we learned were the rules of the "shinobi world" but in my opinion, what use were they when you had a knife to your throat?

The teacher, a pretty young woman with dark hair and startling ruby eyes, droned on and on before finally announcing, "The genin teams are as followed..."

I perked up, finally awake from my reverie.

"... Team Four: Haruno Yuri."

I felt all gazes go to me. All of the twelve-year-old graduates stared at me as if I had two heads, whispering amongst themselves. I rolled my eyes to cover up my discomfort, but I guess that's what I got for being a seven-year-old prodigy.

But it wasn't that great of an honor when there was _another_ seven-year-old prodigy who was graduated with even higher marks than you. You have no idea how much I loathed –

"Uchiha Itachi."

I blinked. No way. No freaking way. The one boy who was superior than me in almost everything. The one boy who infuriated me with his smirk of triumph. The one boy who made me want to rip my hair out in frustration. He was on my team. Holy...

"Sensei, may I have a team switch?" I asked politely before she could read off the next name.

All eyes turned to me, including Itachi's. I tried to act normal as I felt his gaze boring into me.

She furrowed her brows. "Why's that, Yuri-chan? Do you not get along with Itachi-kun?"

"Yes," I answered bluntly.

My teacher sighed. "Yuri-chan, being a shinobi demands much more than just not getting along with your teammates. If you want to be a kunoichi of Konoha, you must learn to adapt to your environment. Now, the last team member is Ishiwaze Yama."

I blinked, not registering what had just happened.

**x x x**

"Haruno Yuri...-san?"

I looked up from my obento. Holding up a tako in my chopsticks I cocked a brow at the boy who interrupted my lunch.

"Yes?"

He looked like a shy, jumpy boy with dark brown hair and brown eyes. He smiled shyly at me before saying, "My name is Ishiwaze Yama. I'm your team member."

"Oh, that's right. Sensei said to eat with our team, right?" I recalled. I brushed myself off and got up on my feet. I held out a hand for him to shake. "Konnichiwa, Yama-kun. My name is Haruno Yuri."

"Konnichiwa."

I looked around. "Where's Uchiha, then?"

Yama quietly replied, "He said he didn't want to eat..."

I made a face. "Are you serious?" I shook my head disapprovingly. "First he thinks he's so cool and now he's being an anorexic? Jeez. Let me go and find him."  
I turned to go but stopped at the boy's stammers.

"B-but..."

"Don't worry, he's not as sinister as he seems," I laughed. I abruptly stopped, my eyebrows curling forward in apprehension. "At least I hope."

Before Yama-kun could say anything, I was already on the move, looking for the stupid Uchiha kid. I checked the usual spots, like the large oak tree in the back of the playground, the classroom where he stayed inside away from the other kids, and the roof of the building where he ate lunch, but he wasn't anywhere.

"Uchiha!" I yelled, walking down the street away from the academy. I ran a hand through my hair in aggravation. "Uchiha, where are you?"

Right when I stepped under the shade of a tree, I felt my body being lifted up. Reflexively, I bit the hand that held my mouth and kicked at the assailant. I heard a muttered curse but was still lifted up into the branches of the tree. I turned around quickly to see who had attacked me, only to see...

"Uchiha?" I asked, squinting my eyes in the sudden darkness of shade. "What the hell was that for!?"

He glared at me, giving me the universal sign to shut up while pointing down.

Peeking down, I noticed, horrified, a hoard of girls our age squealing while holding congratulatory baskets and boxes of gifts. They were calling Uchiha's name while scampering around. I snorted when I saw a girl trip over the ribbon her present. I waited until they all disappeared before snapping at him again.

"We were supposed to eat with our team, genius," I told him, crossing my arms over my chest.

He only tilted his head to the side as if thinking of a plan. I eyed him suspiciously when he suddenly put an arm on the trunk of the tree behind my ear.

"Haruno," he said as he leaned forward, "I need you to do something for me."

"What!" I squeaked, turning red at the sudden near-contact.

"Pretend to go out with me."

I blinked, not registering what he had said. "Eh?"

"You heard me."

"Uchiha Itachi, did you go insane?" I inquired innocently. "Since when would you ever want to be involved in a romantic relationship with anyone?"

He scowled at me, making me grin in triumph.

"I'll do it, but on one condition," I said with a wry smile.

"... What is it?" he asked, finally pulling away so I could breathe.

"You gotta let me do whatever I want, whenever I want!"

"What."

"You know, like normal couples, except mushier!" I laughed at his stricken expression.

He sighed, "Maybe I should have asked Inuzuka Hana instead..."

"She has too much pride," I said smugly. "Take it or leave it, Uchiha."

"... Fine."

I raised my hand, pinkie up. "But you gotta promise me one thing: never, ever, ever kiss me!"

Itachi looked faintly disgusted at the thought. But reluctantly hooked my pinkie with his, muttering darkly more to himself than me, "Anything to get those stupid girls away from me."

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**_Thanks for reading. Please rate/review, I appreciate it. :D_**


	3. Chapter Three: Ambushed

Hey, guys!

Quiddity here again with chapter three. This is the chapter where things actually start going somewhere, yay!

Enjoy. (:

**DISCLAIMER: All Naruto characters do not belong to me. Only my OC, Haruno Yuri, is of my creation.**

* * *

**Chapter Three: Ambushed**

Taking on seven years, the holy ghost had left alone.

Test my arms, kick like crazy,

I've been trying way too long.

_lyrics by Saosin._

_

* * *

_

I broke away from my reverie when I heard someone land softly on my balcony. By the silent thud, I could tell it was someone of high leveled stealthiness. Instinctively, I threw a kunai out the balcony door, only to see –

"Kakashi?" I gave him a look of exasperation when I saw him dangling off the side of the balcony with one hand. "What the hell are you doing? I could have killed you."

"Ah, Yuri, I forgot to ask you," he said with a smile, hopping back on the metal balcony with a sheepish smile. "Mind packing two obentos for tomorrow? It's Team Seven's first test."

I sighed, "Why didn't you tell me earlier when I was packing Sakura's for today? You know I'm already busy with my mission."

He smiled, appearing in front of me quickly and pecking me on the lips. "This is why I love you."

I rushed into the kitchen with Kakashi following me, putting on an apron before cutting up a few vegetables and washing rice in the sink before allowing it to cook. I felt warm fingers lift my hair up from the nape of my neck and braiding it expertly as I cooked an egg on a frying pan.

"Are you doing the same test again?" I asked as he hugged me from behind, holding my waist and resting his chin on my shoulder.

"Mm."

"Go easy on them, will you?" I flipped the egg over to achieve a perfect gold color. "No one passed your tests before."

"If my memory serves well, I remember that no one passed _your_ test while you were a squad leader either," he pointed out.

"That's not my point," I huffed, putting the egg roll in the wooden obento box. "As the older sister of a future student of yours, I have the right to ask you to be nice."

He laughed softly, "I know, I know."

I carefully placed steaming rice into the obento. "Why are you making me procrastinate? I would have been done packing by now."

He slipped away, sitting in a chair at the dining table in the kitchen. "Yuri, have you ever thought of just staying home and living with me?"

"Play housewife?" I paused to imagine me staying at home all day, cooking and cleaning. I shook my head at the thought and laughed, "I never really considered that as a profession."

"I'm serious." Kakashi leaned back in the chair, watching me carefully for any reaction. "I want you to be with me after your mission. You don't want to be a shinobi anymore, do you?"

I froze for a second before letting a small smile fall on my lips. "That would be nice."

The silver-haired shinobi grabbed me by the waist, hugging me tightly and lifting me off my feet and smiling. "Then it's a promise. As soon as you come back, you live with me."

I laughed, my forehead against his neck. "I got it."

xxx

"The only thing off about you is your hair!"

Ooh, burn. I didn't even need to be there to know that the insult was directed towards Kakashi.

I dove off of the tree branch I had landed on, landing neatly on my feet near the training ground in the shadows. I saw Uzumaki Naruto, the number one hyperactive, noisy boy in Konoha, facing Kakashi directly as my lover stood, aghast at his lack of stealthiness.

I watched, amused, as Naruto attempted to attack Kakashi as Kakashi easily (but in a rather unorthodox method) defeated him by using a method he called "A Thousand Years of Pain," which was in fact him poking him up the butt with his hands in the seal of the tiger.

"Slow, sloppy, and uncoordinated," I noted Naruto's attacks.

I sensed another kid's presence. Uchiha Sasuke nearby... The one child I wasn't able to protect...

Kakashi quickly used the Kawarimi no Jutsu as Sasuke let the traps he'd set loose, embedding his shuriken and kunai into a log as Kakashi merely sidestepped the attack.

"What do you think?" he said, appearing next to me as the log fell to the ground. Sasuke looks around confusedly for a second.

"Another fail, perhaps," I shrugged. I passed him four obentos I had been holding in my hands. "In case they _do_ succeed, don't eat ramen again; it's unhealthy. I packed more for you and the extra student."

"Yuri," he said warningly. He always hated it when I did more than what was asked.

I giggled before kissing him on the cheek. "I'm going on my mission now."

"Be safe."

He pulled his mask down, his lips on mine in an instant.

"Shouldn't you be testing your students," I asked as he pulled away.

"A kage bunshin (shadow clone) is taking care of them," he murmured, his lips pressing on mine. His arm snaked around my waist, pulling me close to him as he kissed me passionately.

In his kiss, I felt something odd... Sadness, reluctance... fear?

"I'll come home safely," I told him firmly, pulling away slowly before he could express any of those emotions in his eyes. I kissed him on the lips briefly before disappearing into thin air.

x x x

**Seven months later...**

"Susume-san, this is it!"

I looked down at the little punk who was supposed to be a feudal lord's daughter. Tying my long chestnut tresses in a bun, I forced a smile as the little girl who was grinning brightly at me. Her alarmingly bright gold eyes pointed at the enormous fortress ahead of us. Her kimono dragged behind her haphazardly as her hair fell out of its combs.

I yanked the teenage girl back by her arm, which was draped with her ruby kimono's sleeve.

"Wait one second, Emiko-sama," I said, noticing something awry with the guards. They stood at the front of the massive gate, head up and staring blankly ahead... Yet their movements seemed odd. They were moving slightly, as if only capable of swaying in the wind.

"Susume-san? What's wrong?"

We were only gone for a few hours, yet...

Throwing a few shuriken, I watched as they cut through slivers of rope directly above the two men. The bodies of the guards fell to the ground. Bloody cuts marked their backs. Emiko froze next to me. As soon as she opened her mouth to scream, something swooped down swiftly in front of the dead guards, turning her scream into a whimper.

"Tch... Useless," he muttered, moving a head with his toe. A young man with messy hair smiled at me with unfailing friendliness. He held a large sword against his shoulders. He wore a pair of dark ninja pants with a tight netted shirt and held an enormous blade on his shoulders. Shoved his large sword into the ground, he held out a hand towards me. "Hey. Wanna dance?"

"Maybe in another universe," I replied simply, smiling coldly back at him. Emiko shuddered, her eyes huge as she watched the blood from the guards freely flowing on the ground. I nudged her behind me. Stiffly, she complied.

His grin faltered into a glare. "What do you think you can do against me? You're only a maid who follows a little girl around."

In a fraction of a second, I was behind him, holding a kunai to his throat.

"Oh, but I'm much more."

His eyes widened as he quickly jumped away from me, sword in hand.

"Who are you?" he demanded.

"Me?" I laughed before my expression turned grim. I twirled my kunai on my index finger. He rushed at me, forcing me to block with my kunai as his sword swept down on me. I kicked him away easily, before doing a rush of hand signs. The earth suddenly melted around him, swirling him down into the ground until only his head was sticking out of the ground.

I walked up to him, placing a foot on his head to stop his wriggling as my eyes flashed a dangerously neon green.

"My name is Haruno Yuri."

x x x

Luckily, the feudal lord was safe, due to the quick thinking of his wife who had noticed something odd about their secretary. After all of the assassins inside were rendered useless by my partner who was in the interior of the mansion, the feudal lord's family reunited, relieved that no one was injured. As a means of gratefulness, they paid us a hefty sum of money before we left.

"Susume-kun," my partner said, as he punched my shoulder with his fist lightly while we strode down the dirt road. He held up our sack of gold, grinning widely. "Looks like we hit the jackpot!"

I sighed, giving my partner a sideways glance of exasperation. My partner's name was Tokimaru Buto. He was a man of twenty-two years and was pale and slender with silver hair and icy blue eyes. He always wore a pair of goggles around his neck, only putting them to his face when he was in an intense battle. He was clad in pale ivory pants and a matching jacket with fur which he only took off while fighting, revealing a netted short-sleeved shirt. Like my alias, he was a mercenary shinobi from the Water Country but he specialized solely in water-based ninjutsu.

"Susume-chan," he whined, pulling at a brown lock of mine annoyingly. "Don't be like that. We're mercenaries for a reason, you know?"

I pulled my hair back from him. Using a basic jutsu that I had learned from one of my previous mentors, I had changed my outer appearance into a young woman around the same age as me, with light chestnut locks of hair and the same green eyes. I now wore a simple camel coat over a pair of black shorts and black knee-high ninja boots, only taking off the coat when necessity demands.

"Buto," I informed him evenly, "you don't earn any money in the end if you gamble it away."

"But Susume, I'm helping the economy by giving away all this money, you know?" The stupid boy grinned condescendingly when in actuality he was only a few years older than me.

"Save it for later," I retorted, stuffing my hands in my pockets and walking towards an inn I had spotted on the way to the mansion.

x x x

Almost two months had passed and yet I couldn't find any sign of Uchiha Itachi. The Akatsuki were not known by civilians of this country and I couldn't go around asking random ninjas about them while keeping a low profile. In the end, I resorted to doing random A-rank missions I'd find along the road, hoping that by some chance, they would be involved in one of them.

... All in all, this blows.

The next day, Buto and I were hired by another ninja, interestingly enough. He was a young boy around my age with brown hair and brown eyes. He claimed to be a chunin of the Hidden Mist Village, but needed assistance getting home. He claimed that there were "nasty people" chasing after him, which had caught my attention. His team had gotten kidnapped by these people, and thus he followed and begged us for help.

Buto said it wasn't worth it because of the short change the kid had, but out of both sympathy and intrigue, I forced Buto to comply and help.

"... and I was like, no, this guy can't beat me! He looked like an onigiri who had seen way too many weeks, if you get what I'm saying. And like, so I used taijutsu like _bam_ and _wham_ and I beat him up and finally moved up in the tournament," the boy kept going on and on and on... I was ready to kill myself.

"As much as I'd love to hear about genins fighting one another, I think it would be wise to be quiet," I told him exasperatedly as we all climbed into a boat. I looked pleadingly at Buto but he shrugged, giving me the universal _that's-what-you-get-for-not-listening-to-me_ gesture. I gave him a very sarcastic look in return.

Hours later, even the ferryman looked like he wanted to maul the kid. Repeatedly, I told the little chunin, "Kid, calm down. Your mouth's going eighty kilometers a second."

"Yeah, but Susume-san, get this. He wasn't disqualified so I had to fight him _again_. It was horrible! I was already so tired of fighting an expired onigiri. I mean his hair was big. And triangular, like _really_ triangular to the point where –"

"GET DOWN!" Buto yelled.

I shoved the boy down into the wood of the small boat as the ferryman screamed. Buto lunged to help him but it was too late. The ferryman's head rolled off and into the water, his body soon following as a windmill shuriken flew past our heads.

"Hand over the boy."

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**Author's Note: I was sugar high when I was writing the little boy's part so excuse the randomness. D:**


	4. Chapter Four: The First Battle

_Hiya, guys._  
_First of all, forgive me for this super short chapter. This is meant to be more of a filler chapter since I wanted to test out writing out a fight scene for once, teehee.  
Have fun with Chapter Four! :]_

**DISCLAIMER: All Naruto characters do not belong to me. Only my OC, Haruno Yuri, is of my creation.**

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**Chapter Four: The First Battle**

Does it feel like we've never been alive?

Does it seem like it's only just begun?

_lyrics by 30 stm._

_

* * *

_

A woman stood a few meters away, balanced perfectly on the water with controlled chakra. She held a plain spear with a ribbon attached to the end which swished in the wind. Her scarlet eyes gleamed at the sight of blood and the horrified expression on the boy's face.

"I'll say it one more time before I murder the two of you: Hand. Over. The. Boy."

Buto merely grinned at me. "My turn or is it yours?"

I glared at Buto before jumping out of the boat, landing neatly on my feet a few meters away from the spear-woman. She turned her attention from the boy to me lazily. She barked out a laugh as she looked me over.

"Well, well, well," the woman said, twirling a piece of her long brown-black hair around a finger, "looks like there's a pretty-faced bitch and a cute guy as my opponents... How fun."

I suddenly felt a shuriken fly near me. In instinct, I grabbed a senbon needle and threw it behind me, knocking away the shuriken before it could meet flesh. Buto was behind me in an instant, facing the spear-woman. I noticed a water clone protecting the boy on the boat.

The spear-woman looked peeved as a new kunoichi arrived on the scene. This one was a tall, slender figure with long black hair pulled back in a ponytail. An easy smile graced her lips as she fiddled with her eye patch with one hand.

"Shizuka, I told you not to interfere," the spear-woman growled, her qi pao fluttering in the wind as she pointed her spear at the new shinobi. "Killing the ferryman should've appeased you."

"But alas, it didn't," the woman known as "Shizuka" said. She shrugged before smiling maliciously. "The scent of blood always got me excited for a battle, Ketsueki."

Ketsueki looked annoyed but managed to hold in any obvious signs of emotion.

I glanced at the two of them before sighing and turning to Buto. "Buto, get back in the boat and keep the kid safe. The water clone isn't enough protection. "

"But Susume-chan –" he started.

"Enough. Get back into the boat," I commanded sternly, my emerald eyes flashing dangerously.

He nodded without hesitation, leaping into the air to jump back into the boat. To my surprise, the kunoichi with the spear growled before jumping to attack him with her spear. But the next thing she knew, she fell headfirst into the water, creating a large splash that rocked the boat in which Buto landed neatly in.

I stood by the splash, without a single drop on me as I eyed the spear that floated to the top. The other kunoichi was staring with wide eyes. To her, it looked as if I had simply teleported into thin air and moved halfway across the lake in a moment. In reality what happened was that I had moved quickly, leaped off of the water, grabbed the girl's spear with one hand, and applying chakra, shoved her head down into the water. Controlling the water with practiced manipulation of water, I had remained dry.

Buto barked out an uneasy laugh as he put a protective arm around the terrified chunin. He had always admired my speed and strength, but at the same time, had an irrational fear of it. I can't imagine why.

A sudden body jumped out of the water like a bullet, grasping the spear as she came up. The kunoichi landed on the water, keeping a steady control of chakra to hold her steady. Ketsueki glared daggers at me as water dripped from her clothing.

I smiled. "Wasn't that refreshing?"

"You bitch, " she snarled, ready to pounce on me. I merely eyed her distastefully, crossing my arms over my chest.

The other kunoichi quietly told her, "Do not underestimate her, Ketsueki. She could have killed you right then and there."

"She's right," Buto cheerfully inputted with an unfailingly friendly smile. "She _could_ have smashed your brains in with the chakra she used in her hand but I guess she wants to scare you first."

I smiled demurely at both of the kunoichi. "Please leave, now. Before I am forced to kill you both."

The scarlet eyes turned to the steel ones for a millisecond before they both came to attack me. I sighed, pulling out two kunai and with each arm blocking one of the assailants. Steel clattered against one another as our strengths battled to see whose was the strongest. Using a bit of chakra, I pushed off both of them. Instantly, Ketsueki jabbed at where my head should have been, but my body merely turned into liquid.

Shooting out of the water like a bullet, a watery dragon came up, roaring as it engulfed Ketsueki. She cried out in shock as the impact of the water hit her forcefully, knocking her away several feet. The other ninja made no hesitation as she made a few hand seals. I merely eyed her movements carefully before leaping away from her attack which was an earth release that hurled a large, wet boulder aimed in my direction.

In the instant that I moved, the kunoichi had pulled out a summoning scroll and unleashed countless strings of shuriken and kunai around me. The strings, attached to her fingers, glowed with chakra as it surrounded me completely in a dome of sharp weapons on the surface of a lake, blocking out any rays of sunshine. I cursed to myself quietly. This is what I get for dragging battles out.

I released the chakra that was emanating from the soles of my feet, thus falling into the water, feet-first. The kunoichi made no hesitation in sending the netted strands of weaponry underwater. I narrowly dodged dozens of windmill shuriken, kunai, swords, and several forms of bladed objects. I quickly made hand seals and released a jutsu:

"Suiton: Suishuu Gorugon!"

Applying a good portion of my portion into the water, I released a large, bulbous water dragon from the water, demolishing the nets of weaponry. The dragon, like an unstoppable barrage, rose out of the water and the disgruntled scream of the kunoichi gave me the cue to come out of the water. Swimming up, I gasped for air before placing a palm on the surface of the lake. Using the chakra to keep a steady hold on the water, I pushed myself out of the water, landing on my feet neatly.

The one known as Shizuka was flying, skidding against the surface of the water. I noticed a trail of blood from her nose and mouth and her arm twisted unnaturally. I sighed, realizing I had put in too much chakra into the last attack.

Now... where was that other –

I narrowly dodged a swipe with a spear, pulling out a kunai to deflect the next attack. Ketsueki was back on her feet, glowing with rage as her comrade moaned in pain on the other side of the lake. She roared as she brought the spear down upon me, creating a large and quick attack. I used both hands on a kunai to block the spear. Weapons rattling in a battle of pure strength, I narrowed my eyes. Something was different about her agility and force.

Ketsueki grinned maliciously, shoving even harder down onto the pole. Using chakra in my arms, I shoved her away.

"Oy, Susume-chan, she ate a soldier pill," Buto called from faraway. I glanced over to him and saw he was sitting cross-legged in the boat without much motivation. The boy on the other hand, was scared witless as one could tell from his utterly pale face. "Hurry it up, will you? Kid's ready to faint here."

I gave him an exasperated look in response.

But then again, he did have a point. This battle was dragging out too long. I prayed that I wouldn't have to battle again for a while as a plan came up in my head.

I gathered the majority of my chakra into my fingertips, palms, and my feet. The splish-splash of the kunoichi's steps echoed in my mind as I closed my eyes. Taking in a deep breath, I flickered my eyes open, and struck with my right hand.

My fingertips grazed against her left arm, but she obviously didn't feel any effect as she continued attacking. Ducking under a large swoop of her spear, I grazed her right leg with my foot. At the same time, my fingertips touched her right arm. I took a step away and the girl gasped in sudden agony.

"What... did you do to me..." the girl asked, her scarlet eyes livid.

Evenly, I explained, "By touching a few points on your body, it disrupts internal order. More specifically, I disrupted your blood and chakra flow."

There was a peaceful pause for a split second before her shriek of rage filled the empty silence.

Despite the pain in her legs, Ketsueki sprinted towards me, intent on skewering me on her spear. Taking my stance, I dodged the spear, but to my surprise, she flipped out a kunai with one hand, stabbing me viciously in the leg. I grimaced in pain before applying chakra into my right palm, and smacked her abdominal area.

Blood flew out of her mouth from the impact and she fell on the water, unconscious.

Buto was with me in an instant, the other unconscious kunoichi in hand. He grabbed the now-unconscious girl onto his other shoulder, looking at me with worry.

"Was it necessary to use up so much of your chakra in something silly like that?" he asked skeptically. "Plus, you got injured."

I glanced down at my bloody leg before shrugging. "It's okay. I regenerate chakra quickly naturally. And don't worry about my injury, it's not life threatening."

"You should really fix that."

"I'd rather not waste my chakra on something irrelevant."

As he jumped away to place to bodies somewhere in the woods, I gingerly made my way to the small boat where the kid was staring at me with wide eyes. I could tell he was both admiring and fearing me.

"Susume-senpai," he said in new-found reverence, "are you okay?"

"Don't worry about me, squirt." I sat in the boat, leaning my head against the side gratefully as I took some rest. I raised my hand over my wound in my thigh, letting chakra radiate to seal up the wound at the least.

Buto was back in an instant. Without even saying anything more, he rowed silently.

In a brief glorious peace, without the stupid kid chattering away (was I really that scary?), we rowed for but twenty minutes when a presence made itself known. In reflex, I threw a barrage of shuriken and kunai towards the presence.

"Sharp as ever."

That voice... it chilled my spine in recognition. I knew that voice. I knew who it was before I even turned my head.

Uchiha Itachi.

* * *

**Author's Note: **  
**Okay, so nothing really plottish happened in this chapter but I wanted to try out writing out fight scenes. xP**  
**Be prepared for the debut of Uchiha Itachi in the next chapter!  
As always, reviews will make me super happy. :D  
Thanks for reading! :3 **


	5. Chapter Five: Pictures of the Past

Hi guys~  
Yay for the debut of Itachi!  
I wrote this in a rush so forgive me for the crappy fight, but enjoy! :)

- Quiddity

**DISCLAIMER: _Naruto_ does not belong to me. Only my OC, Haruno Yuri, is of my creation.**

* * *

**Chapter Five: Pictures of the Past**

We exchanged promises of revolution  
in the expanding darkness.

_lyrics by Nightmare._

_

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_

I slowly got to my feet, ignoring the unstable rocking of the small boat and Buto's yells:

"Susume, get down, their chakra levels aren't normal! For God's sake, sit down!"

Standing on the even surface of the sea, two men in black cloaks stared at me without any words. Their straw hats covered the majority of their faces but I could tell that one man was extremely tall with blue skin; an S-classed nin from the Water Country. He held a large sword wrapped in white bandages.

"Hoshigaki Kisame," I noted almost inaudibly. He stiffened before laughing.

"Pleasure." He took off his straw hat as the bell tinkled quietly. Kisame's face strongly resembled a shark with a mop of hair on top. He grinned, revealing large, pointy teeth.

I slowly averted my gaze to the man next to him. My stomach churned as I looked at that familiar figure. Unable to stand the suspense, I threw a shuriken, knocking the hat off of the silent man's head. He didn't even so much as flinch in surprise.

He looked _so much the same_... The same long raven hair tied back neatly. The same tan skin with creases under his eyes. He tilted his head to the side, as if calculating my moves in that infuriatingly familiar way.

I shakily raised my index and middle finger into a one-handed Tiger seal before smoke surrounded me, revealing my true appearance. My long, pink hair flowed in the wind as my emerald eyes met ruby.

"Haruno Yuri," he said quietly, raising a brow.

Buto turned to me, shocked. "Susume-chan, what's the meaning of this? Why do you look different? Who are these guys?"

I closed my eyes, breathing in. When I opened them, my gaze fell hard on Itachi.

"My name is Haruno Yuri, an ANBU member of Konohagakure, and my mission is to capture the S-classed missing nin, Uchiha Itachi. Uchiha Itachi, you are hereby under arrest by the authority of the Hidden Leaf Village."

"Well, I guess our mission is going to be fun for once," Kisame said with a grin, about to pull out his sword against me.

"Kisame, she is my opponent," Uchiha said curtly, forcing Kisame to a halt. Kisame grumbled something before facing Buto who was still staring at me with wide eyes.

"Buto, get yourself and the boy out of here, _now_. These guys aren't a joke," I warned him, my eyes never leaving the Uchiha. I stepped out of the boat, my chakra focused naturally on the water so I stood tall.

"Susume-chan," Buto started.

"_Get out of here, now_," I hissed warningly, turning my head towards him. But as soon as I left my attention off of Itachi, he rushed at me with a kunai in a fraction of a second. I whipped out a kunai as well, blocking his attack. His knife grated against mine as our strengths battled, our chests close to one another.

Buto, shocked at the speed of Itachi. He nodded at me, and using a water-based jutsu, he moved the boat away with speed. The last thing I saw of him and the boy were the identical stricken expressions they had on their faces.

Kisame sighed, scratching the back of his head. He looked at the direction at which Buto had taken off reluctantly. "I don't have to go after them, do I?"

Itachi and I jumped away from each other, landing a good fifty meters away.

"Uchiha," I said quietly, easing my pose, "Do you know what you've done to all of us? Do you know what you've done to Sasuke? To me?"

A silence ensued for a fraction of a second before Itachi threw a rally of shuriken and kunai at me. I quickly deflected them with the blade of my kunai with ease. My eyes widened as a large ball of fire came towards me.

"Suiton: Suijinheki (Water Release: Water Encampment Wall)," I murmured as I made a few hand seals.

A large wall of water blocked the ball of flame, evaporating into steam. I felt the wind brush against my ear. Instinctively, I jumped into the air and round house kicked behind me, applying extra chakra in the heel of my foot.

My kick was blocked by the wrist of the Uchiha prodigy, who had applied the exact same amount of chakra to deflect it. Our hands and feet flew as we engaged in taijustsu, with me applying a good amount of chakra into each blow. I saw from his intense expression that he was having trouble keeping up.

I feinted to the left as he punched the air, ducked under his kick, and brought my own leg up to kick him in the chest. He stumbled backwards a step, but it was enough time to perform another jutsu.

I quickly made hand seals before saying, "Suiton: Suishuu Gorugon (Water Attack: Strong Current Torrential Rain)!"

A large serpent made of water rose. It bared its fangs before rushing at Itachi, who was only a few feet away from me.

I made a single hand seal as the earth rose in front of me in a large wall, blocking the water that flew from the attack. I knew it wasn't that easy though.

Turning around, I saw red eyes staring at me curiously.

"You've improved," he noted calmly as if we were having a little chit-chat.

"Do you think," I asked quietly in anger as a throbbing pained my injured leg, "that I've been dawdling around these past five years?"

I made a few hand seals before quietly releasing another jutsu.

"Doton: Retsudotensho."

A large whirlpool was suddenly swirling in the lake, its sheer force making me look for land. I quickly spotted the side of the lake where a forest lay. Applying chakra into my legs, I bounded off, but mid-leap I flinched in pain. The injury hadn't healed yet...

Uchiha made no waste in opportunity. Mid-air, he grabbed me by the neck and threw me to the ground viciously.

Crashing down onto the ground painfully, I tried to cushion my fall but to no avail. A flimsy little chakra shield managed to keep me from breaking any limbs but barely anything else. I felt my ankle twist unnaturally as my foot crashed onto the ground.

I got up slowly and painfully. Cursing myself, I leaned against a tree trunk, trying to get my breath between heavy pants. I swallowed against the pain consuming my body. Blood was freely flowing from my leg, the wound reopened and my other foot twisted. My internal organs were damaged from the fall, leaving a trail of blood from my lips. In addition, my chakra was near depletion.

_I refuse to lose_, I told myself, unwilling to let the black dots around my sight consume me. _I refuse to fail this mission _again.

Another giant fireball appeared in front of me, widening my eyes and bringing me to my senses. I quickly formed hand seals, ignoring the jabbing pain in my chest.

"Doton: Doryuuheki!"

A wall of earth quickly raised in front of me, barely blocking the fireball. I closed my eyes, putting my arms in front of me to block away the flames licking beyond the wall. Sensing someone behind me suddenly, I turned around as a kunai stabbed at my stomach.

Itachi was surprised to see my body slush into water as the real me was behind him, making another jutsu:

"Doton: Ganchuusou!"

Pillars of spiky earth came up, stabbing at the Uchiha, impaling his body which had turned into a log. Suddenly, something grabbed my wrist, shoving me to a tree trunk.

A pair of red eyes stared at me curiously, only inches away from my emerald ones. Uchiha Itachi was standing in front of me, his hand pressing lightly against my throat in a gentle death grip. He was so close to me I could feel the warmth from his body radiate to mine.

"I refuse to lose here," I whispered to myself.

"Why are you so persistent in defeating me," he mused aloud, almost curiously.

I bit back the urge to cough up blood. My sight dimmed slowly into a darkness I couldn't fight. "Because I don't want to live like this anymore."

The next thing I knew, I was falling into his arms and into a grateful oblivion.

x x x

I was greeted by a killer headache.

Groaning in pain, I rolled to the side, only to regret my decision immediately. Pain consumed my left ankle and a burning sensation ripped through my right thigh. Realizing that my injuries weren't quite healed, I gingerly tried to sit up but gave up yet again as soon as the pain kicked in. If I moved my upper body, I knew that I could injure my internal organs further.

Instead of trying to move anymore, I glanced around the room. I was laying on a relatively comfortable twin-sized bed on the side of a spacious room. Regular cream-colored walls were plainly painted with no designs and a wooden little bed stand was sitting to my right with warm bowls of food covered by a cloth. To my left was a wall. A wooden door was in plain view in front of me, taunting me.

Growling, I tossed an extra pillow at the door, hitting it with an unsatisfying thud. I let the anger seep out of me like air from a balloon as I calculated my chances of escaping. Placing a hand on my stomach, I forced warm chakra to seal up the ruptures in my internal organs as I thought carefully.

Okay, so I was stuck in a ridiculously plain room in God-knows-where. I was most likely brought here by the Uchiha kid and thus, in the enemy's territory. With no idea of the geography. With no weapons (my weapons pouch and scrolls were taken from me). With no good position to do any chakra-related moves. With no ability to even move without feeling like pain was eating me from the inside out.

Oh, God, I was _so_ dead.

Despair washed over me like a cold wake-up call. I had to get out of here, preferably with that stupid Uchiha jerk stuffed in a sack on my shoulder. Looking around for anything that could serve as a weapon or even a walking stick, I spotted something on the small bedside table:

My album.

Curiously enough, my picture album was sitting innocently by the steaming food on the little nightstand. I knew it wasn't the right time, but I picked it up, propping it against my ribcage when I finished my healing. I flipped through the pictures, noticing none of them out of place or even touched.

Glancing at each picture, I felt a pain even worse than the physical I felt. Homesickness.

Here was a picture of Sakura at five years old, taking her first picture with me after our parents kept us separated. A picture of me and Kakashi from two years ago, with my arms around his neck as he held up a mug of tea I had made for him in my kitchen. Right after we had started going out secretly...

And another picture. The one that I hadn't looked at for a countless years. A picture of me in an elegant black kimono, standing next to Uchiha Itachi with a white lotus flower nestled in my hair.

x x x

**8 Years Ago...**

Battered and worn from a B-rank mission, I collapsed pathetically on the ground as soon as I saw the Konohagakure gate.

A foot nudged at my side.

"Haruno."

"Leave me alone, I'm tired," I snarled crankily. I lifted my face to glower up at Uchiha Itachi, who was staring at me apathetically.

"Now, now, is that any way you should treat your boyfriend?" A red-haired jonin was catching up to us, taking even strides. His usual soft smile was plastered on his face, despite the fact that we had traveled across the continent escorting a man who had a bajillion ninjas after him.

I rolled by eyes, used to that phrase. Ever since we went public about our "relationship," Itachi was the main source of any teasing I got. For _two_ years. Do you understand how long two years is for a ten-year-old girl?

I admit, it wasn't without its perks. I, not caring about what others say, continuously came close with death as I teased Itachi in front of other peers. The chunin exam was especially fun; in front of all other clans of all countries, I had been the clingiest, cutest, and adorable girlfriend in the history of Konohagakure. I don't think he ever forgave me for that.

I smirked, recollecting what had happened only two months ago:

_x x x_

"Itachi-kuuuuun~"

I had climbed up the railings after my preliminary match. Because of the number of genins that had made it past the first stages, proctors decided to hold a preliminary match to narrow down the contestants.

"What is it, Yuri?" Itachi asked flatly, staring at me without much love in his eyes. He only called me by my first name in front of others, ironically enough.

I pouted cutely as the next two genins started their match. "You aren't going to congratulate me on my win?"

He sighed. "You beat the opponent without even moving your feet" – I glared at him, giving him a threatening remember-that-you're-the-one-who-asked-for-this look – "but congratulations."

I squealed, kissing his cheek as I hugged him tightly. I clutched at his hand. He cringed, his eyes flickering to the other ninjas that had come to watch the matches. Their eyes, including his father's, was staring directly at us. He attempted to wring his fingers out from mine, but I forcefully held them there, linking our arms together.

Oh, I was enjoying this _so_ much. Heehee.

He gave me subtle death glare when he spotted his family staring at him curiously but I only returned it with blithe innocence.

_x x x_

The final matches were even worse. Ha. Fun times. _Very_ fun times.

I snickered to myself.

"Haruno, you _do_ know that you look completely insane, laying on the ground and laughing to yourself?"

I glared up at the Uchiha prodigy as he suppressed a smirk. Barely keeping his stoic countenance, he lifted me up by my elbow, forcing me to my feet.

Too tired to pull any of my cute-girlfriend torture methods, I trudged along, willing my feet to keep moving as the gates came closer. My sensei was ahead of us, already inside the gate.

"Haruno, my parents would like to meet you," Itachi said all of a sudden.

"... what?" I blinked.

"My parents would like to meet you," he repeated slowly.

I snapped, "I know, I'm not deaf. Why would they want to see me?"

"Because," he explained slowly, taking my pack from me when I started dragging it on the ground and propping it on his shoulders, "you made a noticeable impression on them at the exams two months ago if you do not recall."

I smacked my forehead with my palm. Karma is _such_ a bitch.

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**As always, reviews make me happy. :)**

**Thanks for reading! **


	6. Chapter Six: Recruitment

_Hi, Quiddity here again!_

_First of all, thank you for all the favoriting/reviews, everyone. It really motivates me to write more and more! (:  
__And now, time for Yuri to meet the parents! :o_

_Enjoy!_

_**DISCLAIMER: **__Naruto_ does not belong to me. Only my OC, Haruno Yuri, is of my creation.  


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**Chapter Six: Recruitment**

I reached into the sky  
that my thoughts couldn't reach.  
I watched as a multi-color balloon  
Disappeared into the tiny sky.

_lyrics by Olivia Lufkin._

_

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_

Later that night, after a gloriously refreshing shower, I sighed, sitting at the small vanity in front of me. I had gotten the vanity as a present from the Hokage as soon as I had moved into my new apartment which had seemed too big for me as a child.

After brushing and drying my hair, I had dressed into my most formal attire (as recommended by Itachi): a black silk kimono with vibrant pink and white lilies embroidered into the materials with glossy silk threads. It was beautiful, even when no one was wearing it, with its gossamer silks and sleek texture. It was a birthday present from the Hokage, who never dared to tell me the true cost of the outfit.

I turned to my balcony window and spotted Itachi sitting on my windowsill, wearing the same, boring outfit he always wore except he looked tidier.

"Thanks for knocking, Uchiha," I said sarcastically, getting up and brushing off any dust off of my kimono.

"You're welcome," he replied, amused at my appearance.

My face glowed a vibrant red. "_What._ Why are you staring at me like that?"

"Nothing. You simply look different," Itachi commented. He was always careful to not make me blow up at him.

The streets were completely dark as we strolled down to the Uchiha compound with a blanket of nightly mist obscuring what vision I had in the pitch black darkness. An occasional black cat scurried around, foraging for food as the clouds rolled ominously in the sky. The silence of the night raised goosebumps on my skin as the cold fogginess chilled me to the bones. A lone wolf suddenly howled into the night and I squeaked.

Itachi turned to me curiously but I shook my head furiously.

Despite being one of the best kunoichi in Konoha for my age, I was still only ten years old. I mean, I was completely justified in having small, irrational fears now and then, right? ... I mean, it wasn't even like I had my weapon pouch on me for reassurance.

So I was _completely_ justified in holding on to the back of Itachi's shirt between my fingers, letting him lead me to his family compound..._ right?_

My face turned bright red and I mentally kicked myself for grasping onto Uchiha like a ninny. Fearfully, I glanced up to peek and see if Uchiha was staring at me condescendingly like he normally does when I do something stupid, but he made no sign of caring of whether or not I held the tail of his shirt. Thankfully, we soon we arrived at his compound. After zigzagging through the small streets of this miniature village, we reached a particularly large house with the Uchiha insignia proudly stamped on top of the doors. The front doors were open, leaking a welcoming golden light.

Itachi turned to me to debrief me as if I was on a mission again.

"Listen closely, Haruno: my mother will most likely enjoy your company as long as you are yourself and if you get along with my little brother, Sasuke. My father is, by your standards, a strict man with no tolerance for disrespect nor weakness. Try to please them and gain their favor, if not for my sake, for yours."

I stared back at him. "In other words, your dad is going to kill me?"

He gave an uncharacteristic shrug. "I do not know."

"I'll take that as a yes."

We stepped inside of his house, my hand in his for show. (Though, I have to admit, his warm hand was reassuring to me.) Embarrassingly, he knelt on the ground, helping me take off my sandals right when his mother swept into the foyer with a cute little boy who looked identical to his mother. She had pale, aristocratic ivory skin with dark black hair and onyx eyes, wearing an apron over a plain brown dress. Likewise, the little boy had similar looks with the same pale skin, dark hair, and onyx eyes. He stared up at me with wide eyes before noticing his older brother helping me take off a shoe. He smiled brightly at his brother, about to gurgle some baby words before his mother cut him off.

"Oh, you must be Yuri-chan," she welcomed warmly. "It's finally so nice to meet you. I'm Uchiha Mikoto, Itachi's mother."

I attempted to smile back demurely but failed due to the fact that I was bright red because of that stupid Uchiha at my feet. "Thank you, Uchiha-san. It's a pleasure to be here."

"This is Sasuke, but Itachi probably already told you about him, right?" She placed a maternal hand on the back of Sasuke, who was now staring at me intently.

"Hello, Sasuke-kun," I greeted, equally politely but smiling more in a more friendly way. "My name is Haruno Yuri. I have a little sister the exact same age as you."

"Hi," he replied with simple indifference. He turned to Itachi who was standing next to me now, just watching me carefully. "Itachi-nii-chan, you promised to help me with my homework."

"Sorry, Sasuke," Itachi said as he made his way past me and his mother. He poked his brother's forehead before saying, "Maybe another time."

Itachi exited from the foyer. Sasuke broke away from his mother and padded down the hallways, following his little brother as the two women in the household were left alone.

Mikoto-san shook her head, sighing in exasperation. "When will that boy spend more time with his family?" She turned to me and smiled brightly. "Well, then, Yuri-chan."

She led me to the main room where a stern man was sitting at the head of the table, discussing something with Itachi. I could tell that Itachi got a few of his physical traits from this man. They shared the same tanned skin and duller black hair with creases under their eyes. In his simple but sophisticated kimono, he looked like a strict man who had, like Itachi stated, no tolerance for disrespect.

I grimaced inwardly before greeting him with a polite smile. "Hello, my name is Haruno Yuri. It's a pleasure to meet you." I bowed respectfully.

He took a good look at me before nodding in approval. "I am Itachi's father, Uchiha Fugaku. Take a seat."

Itachi's mother gave me an approving squeeze on the shoulder before leading me to sit in front of Itachi, on the other side of Fugaku-san. To my disappointment, she pulled Sasuke away from the menfolk to retire to the kitchen where something was brewing. Mikoto-san gave me a reassuring smile before closing the door.

"Now, then, I understand that you and Itachi have some sort of relationship that has been going on for some years now," Fugaku-san stated shortly. "At first, I dismissed it as some child's game of sorts but now I must have you understand that as the successor to the Uchiha clan, Itachi cannot have any distractions."

I pressed my lips firmly before stating simply, "I understand completely, sir."

Itachi's eyes flickered to mine as his father continued, "I do not mean to have you two end your relationship."

My eyebrow quirked in surprise before I controlled my emotions again.

"You are, undoubtedly, an excellent kunoichi as I saw in your chunin exam and as such, I do believe that Itachi will not stray away from his duties should you be a consistent and supportive... girlfriend," he said slowly in the same way Itachi spoke to me when he thought I was being retarded.

Keeping an even tone, I replied, "Thank you for your compliments, Uchiha-san. I was not aware that Itachi had such pressing duties upon him outside of his life as a shinobi. I will do my best to support his choices; however, please do not be surprised if anything happens between us as we are both shinobi of strong convictions."

He nodded. He got the clue that we might (or in this case, _will_) break up eventually. "Of course. You two are still young, but like I said before Haruno Yuri-kun, I approve of you. If it hasn't been made clear already, I believe that you will be a suitable life partner to Itachi."

Okay, at this I let my mouth drop. What the hell! I was _ten_ years old and this guy expects me to _marry_ this kid? Dear God, there goes my dreams of a cute boyfriend who will share cheesy romantic moments with me and buy roses on Valentine's Day for me and snuggle with me on Christmas Day...

_ WHAT THE HELL IS THIS!_

"Dear." Mikoto-san suddenly appeared behind me, making me realize that her jonin-leveled ninja skills were not forgotten. She broke me out of her reverie with her soft voice that barely controlled the impatience inside her. "They are still young children. You can't expect them to _marry_ quite yet."

Fugaku-san decided to not get on his wife's bad side and nodded meekly. "Of course, of course."

I smiled gratefully at Mikoto-san who scurried back into the kitchen to fetch dinner.

**x x x **

The door quietly opened and I put the album back on the bedside table, preparing for any attacks.

"Ah, she's awake, un." A teenage boy perhaps a year or two younger than me with slanted blue eyes and long yellow-blond hair swept back in a ponytail emerged from the door. The black cloak with red clouds was an obvious indicator that he was a member of the Akatsuki. He glanced over me as I glowered at him. "Well, she seems alright."

He strode over and grabbed my wrist, forcing me up and making me keel over in pain.

_Jesus, do they not realize that I'm not on anesthetics?_

He cringed at my withering glare before placing my right arm around his shoulder, allowing me to lean against him as we made our way out of the room and down a hallway.

I contemplated my chances of getting out of what I assumed to be the Akatsuki headquarters. Because of my lack of knowledge of the geographical surroundings, the number and types of enemies in the headquarters, and my injured state, I came to a conclusion that they were close to nil.

Fan-freaking-tastic.

My thoughts grew increasingly desolate when suddenly, the boy kicked open a door, revealing a large spacious room with a desk planted near the end with a man in another Akatsuki cloak and straw hat with a blue-haired kunoichi standing next to him as he discussed something with Uchiha Itachi. Their talks grew an abrupt stop as I hobbled over, cursing myself for looking so pathetic.

The blond's glance at Itachi was hostile, I noticed, before addressing the man at the desk respectfully, "Leader-sama, I brought Haruno."

The man removed his hat, revealing a rather intimidating character with orange, spiky hair and rather unusual eyes with spiral patterns. He had numerous piercings on his face and ears, giving him a more menacing look.

"Well done, Deidara." His unusual eyes turned to me. "My name is Pein."

I blinked in response, giving him neither a submissive nor hostile expression.

"What do you want, Haruno?" he asked quietly.

"I want to go home," I replied stiffly. "Without any casualties made, preferably."

He stared at me for a second before clarifying, "What do you want more than anything in the world?"

Realizing that his question was beyond more than personal wants, I quietly answered, "I think that's nothing that you should know about me, but it's a peaceful life."

Pein glanced at the blue-haired woman with his unusual eyes before Deidara handed me an Akatsuki cloak.

I ripped my gaze from the black cloak in Deidara's hand to Itachi who was gazing at me with his Sharingan eyes. I glowered at him but he showed nothing but indifference.

"This is what you brought me here for?" I demanded quietly. "To become an Akatsuki member, like you?"

He nodded silently. "If you do not cooperate, we _will_ kill you."

I felt as if the wind was knocked out of me. I spent months trying to locate this bastard and when I do, I have to join this freaking organization unless I want to be killed...?

No, I refuse to die yet. I can't die here with that stupid Uchiha bastard right in front of me. I had to wait for my move.

I grabbed the cloak from Deidara's hands and accepted my fate for the time being.

* * *

_**Thank you for reading! :]**_  
_**Remember, reviews/favoriting make me happy and give me motivation to write more! :D**_

_**Until next time~ **_


	7. Chapter Seven: Two Months Later

_Hi, all! Quiddity here, back from the dead! :D_

_Okay, first of all, I truly apologize for disappearing for like... a year... and leaving everyone who reads this hanging. It's completely unacceptable._

_If you want to know what had happened, drama in my life occurred, I moved, changed schools, got piled up in work and studying and tried to adjust to my new life. Once I did get everything settled down, I realized belatedly that I had lost my motivation to write more of LiY (which is probably something I shouldn't admit). Despite this, I wrote a few more chapters through the months but was deeply dissatisfied with the majority of them for the quality and plot and considered discontinuing this story. However, I thought that it would be unfair to anyone who wanted to read this until the end and find what happens to our poor heroine and also to myself since this was the first fanfiction that I was truly motivated to write and publish for others' enjoyment. _

_In any case, please enjoy chapter seven of Lost in You._

_More details of this story's future at the end of the chapter!_

**__****DISCLAIMER: Naruto does not belong to me. Only my OC, Haruno Yuri, is of my creation.**

* * *

**Chapter Seven: Two Months Later**

Passing through darkness into my own world,  
Will I be more than when I left, be more than when I left?  
Never letting go of the lessons I've learned, this will make a change:  
A change within me .

_"more than it seems" by kutless._

* * *

The first thing I thought when my eyes flickered opened was _Eight weeks have passed since I've joined this godforsaken organization._

I slowly sat up, my joints, bones, and skin all screaming out in pain. I cringed as I threw aside my comforter, revealing bloody cuts, black bruises, and scarlet burns covering my body. Sighing, I put my hand out on the parts that looked particularly nasty and emitted a green aura, healing the worst of the injuries.

For two months, I had spent the majority of my days in the interior of the Akatsuki headquarters, which were underground (so if I had made a break for it before, I would most likely be dead right now). I adamantly refused to go on assassination missions and instead went on small missions that the leader assigned, such as retrieving a certain scroll from someone or assisting fellow teammates as a medical nin.

And of course, I was nowhere near to getting my own personal mission completed.

"Look who's awake, un."

I glanced up and gave my insufferable roommate a glower. Deidara, the young boy who had dragged me to Pein's office the first day I had been here, was standing in the doorway of the bathroom with a towel around his shoulders.

"No need to be so hostile," he snorted, flopping down onto his twin-sized bed on the other side of the room. "Uchiha really got you this time, didn't he, un?"

I brushed aside a lock of dirty pink hair as I focused on my abdominal area now. "I already know; you don't have to rub it in my face. How long was I out this time?"

"Only for a few hours. Not bad, considering the first time you trained with him you were out cold for a good four days, un." Deidara was sitting cross-legged, fiddling with explosive clay to create more bombs for his next mission.

"Let me reiterate what I said before: you don't have to remind me."

I got to my feet, only to feel jabs of pain all over my body. I winced before hobbling over to the bathroom. Grabbing a towel and a spare change of clothes, I slammed the bathroom door shut, making Deidara yell at me for slamming it once again.

As soon as the rectangular tub was filled with murky green water, I eased myself into it, hissing as nasty scratches and welts screamed out in rejection. I grit my teeth against the pain, clenching my eyelids shut against the agony.

After a good twenty minutes, the pain eased away and I relaxed into the dirtied water, holding up my left hand. I gazed at the ring on my left hand that I had neglected to remove before my bath. Like all the other Akatsuki members, I had been issued the customary porcelain ring with a kanji character etched into the middle of the red circle.

"Kuchin, the Void..." I murmured to myself, reading the single kanji letter. "Aether. The one element that doesn't fit with the others: lightning, earth, water, fire, wind... How lonely."

I let my left hand sink back into the water and leaned my head back against the edge of the tub. It was cruelly ironic how only about a year ago, I was closer to a diamond ring on this hand than a stupid Akatsuki ring.

A year ago. Has it really been that long since I had seen any of my loved ones? I closed my eyes and I could see my little sister laughing unabashedly at some silly joke I made. I could see the beloved Hokage shaking his head in disapproval of some antic I pulled, but chuckling softly to himself. I could see my lover and feel his warm arms around my body –

I was suddenly jerked out of my reverie as I heard a loud crashing sound, followed by a large creaking noise and more crashing.

Fast as lightning, I was out of the tub, dressed in my clothes and the towel wrapped over my head in a turban. I opened the door of the bathroom slowly, only to reveal hell.

Everything on my side of the room was completely destroyed, smothered down by boulders. _Boulders_. It wasn't even as if they were a few rocks that I could kick away with some chakra! There were _boulders_ sitting ever-so innocently on my bed and my vanity.

"Deidara, you destroyed _everything_!" I cried in exasperation, trying to salvage what I could. I pulled out my photo album, emerald green nail polish, and weaponry from beneath the rubble, shoving aside some loose rocks. "You could have killed as all!"

Deidara was still on his bed, looking as if he was a child getting scolded by his mother. He kept his eyes down, only mumbling, "It was an accident, un."

"Nevertheless, I can't even brush my hair now because of you!" I pointed to the smoky mess that used to be my side of the room. "What am I going to sleep on now?"

"What the hell happened here?" a voice interrupted.

I whirled around, my eyes widening as I spotted the leader of the Akatsuki standing in our doorway with a brow raised. His swirly eyes turned from me to Deidara expectantly.

We both fell silent. Pein typically had that frightening effect on us.

"I'll assume Deidara caused this mess," he said in that eerie voice of his. "Deidara, you will receive appropriate punishment. And Haruno..."

I flinched as he addressed me.

"... don't be so distressed with your room since I have assigned another mission for you. In addition, you are to reside with Uchiha Itachi until further notice."

I numbly nodded, only wishing for him to get out of what used to be my room. He only gave both of us a final look before disappearing. I exhaled in relief before gasping again.

"What?" Deidara asked somberly.

"I have to room with _Uchiha_?"

x x x

A few moments later, I was closer to suicide than I thought I'd ever be. All those missions that got me tortured or mortally wounded? Yeah, I would take on another hundred of those if it meant that I could avoid this situation. I could kill myself. I _really_ could. Anything is more merciful than living with the man that I was assigned to capture – wait, I take that back. Anything is more merciful than having to _ask_ the man I have to capture to live with him. I was completely at his mercy.

I took in a deep breath before knocking on the wooden door. It opened only half a second after, startling me.

"What are you doing here, Haruno?"

I dared to look up, mentally kicking Deidara for making me be in this unbelievably ridiculous situation. Red Sharingan eyes looked down at me with a stoic expression. I shuffled my feet sheepishly before handing him a note from Pein.

As soon as he was distracted with the contents of the paper, I quickly stepped into the room, dragging my pack of what belongings I had left behind me. I sat at a desk he had in the corner of his room, giving a thorough look at his quarters.

It was ridiculously clean and organized. It was a spacious room with a relatively large bed at the opposite end with dark purple sheets. A single dark purple couch sat on another wall. One metal bookshelf was sitting on the same wall with a few shelves filled with boring analytical books and notes. I noticed a metal photograph frame sitting face-down at one of the higher shelves, but before I could even ponder about what kind of photo there was in there, Uchiha tore my attention away.

"You're to stay with me?" he asked flatly. Itachi looked slightly bemused as he added, "I assume it has something to do with the crash I heard."

I scowled, but nodded. "Yup. That's right. Deidara kind of blew up my room." I slyly added, "I mean, if you don't want me to, I can just ask Leader-sama to give me money to stay in a hotel or something..."

Uchiha only stared at me for a second before sighing. "It can't be helped, can it? Leader-sama says in his letter that you have to meet him at dawn."

I sighed too, only I was sighing in defeat.

A few hours later, I was getting ready for bed as Uchiha left to be debriefed on our mission for tomorrow. I had my hair plaited in a single French braid, wearing a black tee-shirt stolen from Uchiha and leggings that I had salvaged from the rubble of what had been my closet.

Tiptoeing out of the bathroom, I peeked out to make sure the coast was clear. No Uchiha in sight.

I sighed in relief and dove into his bed, letting my aching joints and bruises relax in the soft mattress. I rubbed my head against the purple satin pillow, curling in a ball on my side before drifting off to sleep.

x x x

My eyes fluttered open as I stretched in bed, inhaling deeply as I usually do in the morning, only to stop mid-breath. Odd, it wasn't the usual scent of exotic flowers that I used for my shampoo. I sat up silently, seeing the sun break across the horizon in a round window to my right.

The red sun which was so akin to a crimson fan finally brought me to my senses: I was sleeping in Uchiha Itachi's bed.

Despite myself, I took another whiff of his pillow. It smelled more masculine than mine did, obviously, with a smell akin to what reminded me of waterfalls. I blushed as I quickly got up, wondering what the hell was wrong with me.

I tiptoed to the bathroom when I spotted the Uchiha prodigy on his couch, his left arm over his eyes and his Akatsuki cloak used as a blanket. A pang of guilt hit me for stealing his bed before I reminded myself sternly, _this is the man who killed his family and nearly me several times during training practices._

After I freshened up and grabbed my pack, I quickly made my way to Pein's office. When I reached the doors, I knocked twice before entering.

Pein was sitting at his desk with his partner, Konan, a blue-haired kunoichi who wore a paper flower in her hair.

"Haruno Yuri," he said in what was supposed to be a greeting.

I stiffly nodded. "Leader-sama."

"Your mission is to infiltrate Konohagakure and find the container for the nine-tailed-fox, the Kyuubi." Pen stared at me without much emotion. "As a former kunoichi of Konoha, you should know who that is."

My mouth went dry. Konohagakure? "And when I find him?"

"Nothing. Do not do anything until I give further instructions. Your mission is to examine the jinchuuriki and report back to me."

I nodded. "And when should we head out?"

"Two days from now."

* * *

**_As always, thanks for reading! :)_**

_Notes about the continuation of LiY:_

_LiY will be continued, but will be on unofficial hiatus. I have written the next three or so chapters but I'm going to edit them or perhaps even completely rewrite them as I am going to go over my plot again (for the hundredth time) and probably revise it dramatically. While Lost in You is on hiatus, I will most likely be writing another story which may or may not be Naruto based. I've begun writing two other stories (one is Naruto-based and the other not) and I'm trying to see which story would be better to publish and which I'll be most likely to keep writing without losing my patience, ha ha._

_So, until then, all you lovely people! :]_

_- Quiddity_


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